Stephens downs Scheepers

Indian Wells - Sloane Stephens rallied from a two-game deficit in the second set to beat Chanelle Scheepers 7-5, 7-5 in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open on Wednesday night.

The victory in the 1-hour, 39-minute match snapped the 21-year-old American's three-match losing streak and set up a second-round meeting with 13th-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany.

Stephens reached the quarter-finals last year when ranked 18th in the world. But she fell out of the top 20 after Wimbledon, missed much of the fall with a left wrist injury and has slipped to No 42.

Stephens was the last of the seven Americans in action on an overcast opening day in the two-week event at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

She was joined in the second round by Alison Riske, a 6-2, 6-3 winner over Mirjana Lucic-Baroni of Croatia; wildcard Sachia Vickery, whose 7-6 (6), 7-6 (6) win over Alla Kudryavtseva left the Russian in tears; and wild-card Irina Falconi, a 7-6 (6), 6-4 winner over Croatia's Ajla Tomljanovic.

Louisa Chirico, another US wildcard ranked 148th in the world, lost to Donna Vekic of Croatia, 6-4, 6-3; Nicole Gibbs lost a 6-3, 7-5 decision to Peru's Monica Puig; and Grace Min was beaten by Marina Erakovic of New Zealand, 6-3, 6-1.